Being the very first handset to run Android Ice Cream Sandwich, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus represents a true milestone for the Android operating system. Ice Cream Sandwich is one of the most-anticipated Android iterations ever, since it finally bridges the phone and tablet experience. What this means is that both Android phones and tablets will run Ice Cream Sandwich (and the versions after it), and not two separate platforms, like it has been until now with Android Gingerbread and Android Honeycomb. The case with ICS is that it's built on top of Honeycomb and not Gingerbread. Because of this, ICS brings a brand new experience to Android phone users, equal to a complete redesign of the platform.

First of all, if you have used a Honeycomb tablet, you'll feel right at home with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Most of the UI elements are preserved, and pretty much the whole interface follows the same logic. If you haven't had the chance to work with Honeycomb yet, there'll be a slight learning curve, but very slight indeed – we promise! After all, this is still Android.

As always, your homescreen is divided into multiple pages, on which you can place widgets, app shortcuts and so on. A new element in ICS is that you can create application folders by simply dragging an app shortcut and placing it over another one, just like in iOS. The styling of the new folders is also quite appealing. Overall, we love the entire clean and uncluttered appearance of the platform, making it very beautiful and practical – though, Gingerbread users will initially think of it to be somewhat foreign. For a more detailed look of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, you can read about it in our in-depth review.

Android Ice Cream Sandwich on the Verizon Galaxy Nexus

System Performance:

Beyond looking at the flashy new platform, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is outfitted naturally with a contemporary processor to keep itself in good light with the competition. In fact, it sports a 1.2GHz dual-core TI OMAP 4460 processor and coupled with 1GB of RAM, which is ample enough to handle most basic tasks flawlessly. However, the evidence of choppiness while navigating across its homescreen with a live wallpaper dulls its prestigious aura. Yes, we expect better movement with this, especially when it’s a device showcasing the most up-to-date Android experience. Nevertheless, we’re greeted with that ubiquitous fluidity when using a static wallpaper instead. Although it’s not the fastest thing to come around the block, it’s admirable enough to accept wholeheartedly – still, we would’ve liked it to exhibit a consistent fluidity with its operation.

Contacts:

The highlights of the new UI start with the brand new People app. This replaces the Contacts app and is a much cleaner, visual solution to showing your contacts. “Visual” because the person’s image occupies a much larger space, and “cleaner” because it gets rid of all boxes and many delimiters, leaving some nice blank spaces between fields, so you don’t feel in a clutter. Contact images borrow a magazine-style UI in Google’s words, but the Windows Phone community cried foul that ICS is borrowing Metro UI elements. The Phone app has also been redesigned allowing you to call contacts with a single tap.

Dialer

The new People app

Organizer:

The Calendar has been swipe-enabled, so you can now use gestures in the Calendar. Here, though, by swiping you switch between days, weeks and months. You can also pinch-to-zoom for a more detailed view of your agenda, which can be really helpful when you have set lots of appointments.

The Calendar has been swipe-enabled

Messaging:

With plenty of screen real estate available to us thanks to its ginormous 4.65” display, the messaging experience is undoubtedly very easy on the fingers. Visually, the stock ICS keyboard is nearly an exact facsimile to the Gingerbread one, which isn’t bad seeing that the layout is very spacious. Add to that its peppy responsiveness, we’re able to easily type up long messages with little effort, but more importantly, we’re making very few mistakes along the way. To make things even better, the landscape QWERTY is one of the very best that we've ever used!

Virtual keyboard

Setting up and operating with email (and Gmail) is a trouble-free process. While straightforward in their nature, the Email and Gmail apps are still equipped with lots of options to let you customize and refine your mail usage. Strangely, you can pinch-to-zoom in the Email app for a better view of the content of an email, but you can't do that in Gmail, which can make viewing of certain messages (some picture-rich newsletters, for example) a bit cumbersome.

Email app

Gmail

Internet:

Now there’s a good reason why Big Red’s version of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus is a tad bit thicker than its GSM sibling – well, that’s because it’s packing along a 4G LTE radio. Even though we’re quite familiar nowadays with 4G LTE connectivity, we’re nonetheless always excited to know that we’re going to be blessed with lightning fast data speeds. Rightfully so, the handset is able to load complex web sites like ours in under 20 seconds.

Web browsing with the Verizon Galaxy Nexus

By default, you won't find the Flash Player plug-in installed on the Galaxy Nexus, but thankfully, Adobe recently announced that it has ported Flash for ICS, so you can now grab it from Android Market and enjoy all the Flash content on the web.

Connectivity:

As you can imagine, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus comes with a complete set of connectivity options, including aGPS, 802.11 Wi-Fi b/g/n/a, mobile hotspot functionality, and Bluetooth 3.0, as well as some exotics like NFC and MHL. Despite the fact that the Galaxy Nexus sports NFC, keep in mind that the handset is not support by Google Wallet yet. Considering that this one is specifically tuned to work with Verizon’s 4G LTE network, we’re happy with the data speeds it’s giving us – though, upload speeds tend to be a teeny bit slower than other devices.

Its hilarious how bad the reception is on this thing. My wife complains that the Nexus keeps dropping calls in the house - its only has 1 or 2 bars so of course. My iPhone 4s gets 4 or 5 bars and has yet to drop a call. I've heard poor reception is typical for Samsung phones.

Sure looks pretty, too bad its a lousy phone.

And why is it that Android phones keep scrambling the bottom buttons? Every time you get used to them they change placement or in this case just make them all useless.

Thank you John V for confirming my worries of signal and battery life. The RAZR easily gets 4-5 bars wherever i go. But with the Galaxy Nezus it goes to 1-2 and sometimes its at zero. Yet my data connection doesnt stop and runs at a decent speed. Hopefully this can be resolved with a future update. At least i can give it a extended battery too.

Honestly, I'm not bummed by the battery life, since it's typical of any 4G LTE smartphone I've used. However, it's the dropped 4G LTE connection that's sticking out in my mind. I've encountered it on pretty much all the other 4G LTE devices, but with this, it's simply happening way too often. Still, it'll depend on the person. For me, I don't mind just sticking with 3G connection, but for others, they may find it absolutely unheard of. Still, it's a great smartphone in many ways.

I want to clarify on this battery life. Currently I'm sitting in a 3 bars area with forced 3G on. I have lost only 2% in the past hour with just checking email. This battery life is VERY much tied into the service. Once they get us some good radios (modems, basebands) then we will be fine. We just have to suffer for now.

couldnt agree more.... i suffer from bad signal but still consistenyly have 12+hrs of battery with pretty heavy/moderate usage (just no streaming videos but 150+ texts, 60mins of talking, 2 emails and facebook syncing all day).... i cant complain about THAT but would expect it to get even better after the signal issue is worked out. thats gotta be taxing on the battery.

Yes, I agree that service management is key to getting good battery life with the device. But when you simply don't want to be bothered by it, the battery life is typical of any 4G LTE smartphone I've encountered. It's not abysmal, like the LG Revolution, but it's clearly far from being great.

I know Verizon has already confirmed the signal problem but I have to say I guess I'm just lucky. I do live in LA so I'm not sure if it differs in different LTE coverage areas, but I get 4G almost everywhere. It does drop every once in a while but I am coming from the Samsung Charge and I now have 4G in more areas. Still if Verizon updates me to get even better signal then I'm not going to complain.

I get about the same 12 hour to 14 hour battery life like everyone else. But I did order that extended battery when it was half off and waiting for it to come in.

Unacceptable. Samsung had the same problem with 3G and 4G in the Nexus S and they still have the same problems in the GN. Now you see for yourself why the GN is a subpar phone just because it can not even hold its signal without dropping.

Look, I'm usually a level headed guy, I do like android more then iOS but I see the advantages of both. This is honestly the most fun I've had on a phone ever, period. I love everything about it. And on the battery problem.. It is related to the LTE Radios. One day I was home for 8-10 hrs and I had it on wifi only and my battery that day lasted me 16 hrs. I also have a screen shot of it for proof. So its more of a LTE problem then an OS/Android problem.

thanks for confirming what i've experienced.... was on the phone with vzw for over an hour last night while they looked at signal data and other factors trying to dtermine why i dont get very good reception with my GN. it sucks because i REALLY like the phone, havent had much of an issue with the battery life but have CONSISTENTLY worse 3g and 4g reception than i did with my OGdroid, Thunderbolt, and the best reception yet was my RAZR)... the nexus is the only vzw phone that ive experienced dropped calls wiht (only 3 in 4 days but still) in the past 8 years and i still go to all the same places. for comparison purposes: @ Home Razr: 1bar 4g inside, 11mps down, and 6mps up.... GN: no 4g (even outside -ouch!). @ work Razr: 4bars 4g inside, 11.5mps down and 5.8mps up...GN: constantly flipping between no service, 4g 1 bar and 3g 3 bars.... download speeds from 500kbps to 9mps download (hasnt had 4g connection long enough to complete the upload portion of the speedtest). I REALLY hope this is a software thing and not hardware because i love the ICS, the form factor (just a hair thinner and easier to use than the razr), and of course the screen!!!

I'm a proud Galaxy Nexus owner now. I returned my Rezound for this. It turned out to be a good decision. The Rezound scores in some places but I think the Nexus will outlive the Rezound.

Just wanted to add, that although I have less bars on my Galaxy Nexus than my Rezound. However, I have not had a reduction in quality of calls or data connectivity. The good thing about data is that if it works, it works -- due to the binary nature of data.

I really like this phone, I just wish it had a more capable GPU. I haven't read the review yet but look forward to doing so.

Is it me or do Samsung LTE phones on Verizon tend to have issues? They seem to always be on the low end when it comes to LTE connectivity, which radio supplier do they employ for this task? This phone while sporting ICS from the review is below the Razr. When the Razr gets it's ICS update then this phone with all it's tech will be just another phone. Tech is definitely moving at an accelerated pace, but at least this phone brought ICS out and we have a new version of Android to mull over. Now one thing I found interesting is they talk about panoramic camera ability, since when is this new my Droid X had this ability at launch...wtf?

I think the SGSII is the better overall phone, lets hope some software tweaks help this phone out, not sure about that battery life problem though. ICS should come with ability to disable non vital processes by default to save power. Seriously why is it the programming built to save power from jump?

So let me get this straight...this LTE phone that can't carry an LTE signal got a 9.5? I'm getting this phone sometime this week and I'm sure I'll be pleased since it's gotta be better than an Eris, but aren't we paying a premium price for this LTE service? What's up with a fair review of the device? If it can't do what's advertised your review should not be based on hope but a reflection of what the phone can do. Furthermore, I don't think a phone's software should be enough to give it a near perfect score. The GSM version shouldn't even score so high when it's a good but not great camera, when it records at 24fps, gives a robotic voice, weak speakerphone and poor battery life. Let's not drink the ICS kool-aid here, if every other phone had it would this phone be a 9.5 or an 8.5? The OS is great I'm sure but it just doesn't warrant a 9.5 and neither does spotty connectivity.

I have used this phone and I can't understand why it didn't get an 8.5 MAX. This phone seems more overhyped than the iPhone 4s! laggy homescreen (especially with lwp), terrible camera, no sd, pentile screen and too large to use with one hand (I'm 6'1 so large enough hands).

6'1" has nothing to do with hand size man.I am 6' and have a palm span of 4+" and wear a size 12 ring, and from wrist to tip of middle finger about 8" in length. I know a guy shorter than me with a hand size a bit larger than me....lol, btw I am 235lbs also.

I for one have not had any connectivity issues. As for the software, this is a BRAND NEW version and will take some times to get all of the bugs out. It will also take some time for the apps to become compatible with the new version. Most of my apps are OK but there are a few that do not play nice with ICS. Still the best phone on the market right now.

A 9.5 with a SERIOUS data connectivity problem? Are you kidding me??!! You're supposed to review the phone as it was shipped out to the public, not that it will hopefully be patched down the line and be better. This phone is a GS2 with ICS and bigger screen. I think they should make this phone in a 4.3" model as well. Most people do not want a tablet-sized phone in their pocket. Oh, but they can't... because then it'll be a GS2, lol.

9.5 seems a little high for a device whose looks, camera performance, video capture and battery life are all average or less. It almost seems as though the decision to give it a high mark was made before the review. But, boy that ICS interface is fantastic and that screen is beautiful and responsive. No doubt the Nexus is worth the price and it's performance is great. I might still lean to the RAZR myself, but I am looking forward to playing around with this first excuse I get.....

I agree. Now with so many user complaints and reports regarding the constantly random reboot issues out of unknown reason and without any patterns and solution for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus after such a short launging period onto the market, I will be surprised to see people still rate the Galaxy nexus so high. I think Razr or Razrmaxx is overall better than the Nexus. At least I dont have that constantly randomly reboot issue on my razr.

Its biggest weakness is its speaker. For watching video, it's almost unusable unless you're in a very quiet environment. If you want to watch a video with the ambient noise of a cafeteria or noisy waiting room, you're going to struggle and be forced to hold it close to your ear.

I still recommend this phone. I ordered it on its Thurs Dec 15 2011 release date and got it on Fri Dec 16. I came from the original Motorola Droid OG. Motorola's build quality and windshield mount are superior to Samsung's. Samsung deserves credit for the light weight. Still, after rooting my faithful Droid OG to Gingerbread builds that its processor couldn't handle, my trusty old Droid OG regularly experienced 20-second delays.

The GN's responsiveness is nice. Still, though, even with 2 1.2GHz processors and a GB of RAM, it's more laggy and less responsive than an iPhone 3GS. I hope Google can put a stop to bloatware and unseless skins at Motorola. Bad on Verizon for betraying the Nexus idea.

I tried the Samsung MHL adapter with my Galaxy Nexus. At first I couldn't figure out why it wasn't working. Audio/video does not work at all unless a charge cable is plugged in first. I could not have been more dissatisfied. The video output is only 720P. Plugging a charger into the MHL adapter does not charge the phone at all and if you unplug the charger from the MHL adapter, the picture and sound stops. The tv picture settings had to be changed from 16:9 to fit to screen. The recent apps, home and go back button stay on the tv screen for pretty much everything except Netflix. Then the battery dies. I tested it on my 46 inch Samsung LCD and my 24 inch HP monitor. Kinda makes me miss how well my Bionic worked.

False about the charging cable being necessary to play audio/video. Newer phones like the Galaxy Nexus will sense if an attached charger is the improper voltage/wattage and decline the charge. That might be the case with the MHL adapter.

My menu keys were good about disappearing on their own in landscape mode.

Maybe you got a lemon. You paid a premium price, so I'd be quick to tell VZW about it. I got a lemon Droid OG and VZW was great about replacing it at a store; my original-Droid replacement worked fine.

Now with so many user complaints and reports regarding the constantly random reboot issues out of unknown reason and with no solution to fix for the Verizon Galaxy Nexus after such a short launging period onto the market, I will be surprised to see people still insist on to say that G nexus is still better than the Razrmaxx or the Rezond or any highend smart phones out in the market now.

Can barely last through half a day compared to my Nexus One which is quite ridiculous. Use to be that my Nexus One can last throughout the day without hiccups. I have to bring my charger with me when i use the original battery

Wish 4.0.4 update will address the battery issue here as this is becoming unbearable. In the meantime, i am using an extended battery which addresses the issue for an bit of extra thickness to the phone

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